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Want to know how normal "cord cutting" is these days? Here's a peek behind the Ars Orbiting HQ curtain: when we decided we wanted to review the new line of TiVo DVRs—called Roamio—after the company's fall announcement, we hit a bit of a snag. Out of the entire Ars staff, only four of us had current cable subscriptions.

Can you blame us? It's easier than ever to lose that relationship with Cox, Comcast, Time Warner, or the local monopoly cable company. You can opt for a Roku, a Boxee, an Apple TV, or maybe something a little risqué like Aereo. And even if you don't want a dedicated piece of hardware, all laptops, desktops, and mobile devices can become your "TV" through the endless amount of streaming content apps.

All of those options have limitations, but regular ol' cable with a DVR does too. The streamers lack the ability to access everything,let alone record it. Cable doesn't let you watch what you want, when you want without the DVR... and even then it's not easy to take that content with you. (Though with emerging initiatives like Comcast's Xfinity TV Go or Cox TV Connect, that problem may soon go away—for a price.)

This somewhat new divide is where the TiVo Roamio may fit. Make no mistake about it, the Roamio (and TiVo in general) is firmly entrenched in the old cable regime. You'll need to work with your local provider in order to get the full TiVo experience. However, just because coaxial is involved doesn't mean that TiVo is limited to the living room these days. Through the streaming capabilities of its Roamio line (minus the regular Roamio, which is compatible with separate Stream hardware), the latest generation of TiVos can transcode recordings and push them to your iOS devices. As Reviews Editor Lee Hutchinson reported, streaming only worked within your local LAN at launch, but the company pushed out an October update so that Roamio boxes could send content over the Internet to connected Apple devices anywhere. The Internet streaming is adaptive too, pacing itself to the available upload bandwidth of your connection (throttling as low as 290kbps and as high as 2Mbps).

Is that enough for members of the post-cable society to come back? Is it enough to keep us dinosaurs here? How does it stack up to your local cable company's default offering? Find a comfy spot on the couch and let's talk TV together.

The Specs

For this review, TiVo provided Ars with its top-line Roamio Pro. We also purchased a Roamio Pro to test alongside the review unit. The Roamio Pro has 3TB of storage, good enough for 450 hours of HD content (or 3,500 hours of SD). The Pro also has six tuners allowing for six simultaneous recordings from one CableCard. All that space comes at a price though. The Pro will run you $599.99 upfront, and new TiVo users will then have to pay either a monthly $14.99 fee or a one-time $499 fee for the service. This is where most existing DVR users dismiss TiVo. Perhaps you get your DVR for free, or it costs you $10 a month. TiVo wants money for hardware and for service, and that makes it comparatively more expensive by a long shot.

After this section, we will use "Roamio" interchangeably with the Roamio Pro. But know that there are two other members of the Roamio line: the Plus (1TB) and the regular Roamio (500GB). The Plus can store 150 HD hours and also comes with the ability to record six shows at once. It's priced at $399.99 plus service. The regular Roamio can handle 75 HD hours and record four shows at once. It will cost you $199.99 plus service. (Additional specs are available here along with more detailed pricing information; returning TiVo customers can expect more service options).

For a quick snapshot of how these fit into the larger DVR landscape, Wired's Roberto Baldwin compiled a handy chart when the devices were first announced (read more of his analysis here):

When considering the Roamio's abilities and monthly cost, these upfront dollar signs may frighten you.

Roberto Baldwin, Wired

At the moment, the Roamio is only compatible with cable TV service and Verizon's FiOS TV service. Satellite TV and AT&T's U-Verse are not yet supported (and over-the-air is supported only in the entry-level Roamio model—the Pro and Plus require cable).

TiVo unboxing

Cool box, TiVo.

What you see is what you get: the TiVo box, an AC power plug, two AAA batteries, a controller, and reference materials.

I'm a fan of Ethernet ports. (Just in from the editor's desk: because of that pun, this will be the last review I'm allowed to do.)

Did you like the five color indicator scheme of the TiVo Premiere? Well, about that...

The TiVo Roamio comes with all sorts of capabilities, but very few physical items areincluded. There's a remote control, a pair of AAA batteries for said remote, an AC power cable, reference literature, and the TiVo box itself. Be warned, first-time TiVo users, the advertising doesn't tell you that you'll need at least four more items—not including a TV—for the box to function at all: an Ethernet cable, AV component cables of your choosing, a trusty coaxial cable, and a CableCard from your local provider. (If you're unlucky, as we were, you'll also need a few additional items.)

The remote is virtually unchanged from the TiVo Premiere remote. It's still peanut shaped and about half the size of your standard cable box offering. It still has all of the standard TiVo buttons. You can record, approve, and disapprove content, and start/stop/rewind/fast-forward as much as you please. Hardcore TiVo users will notice that a few buttons have moved around slightly, such as Mute and Guide, but it's all rather minor. We were disappointed that none of the remotes had back-lighting capabilities.

Nathan Mattise

Those familiar with the TiVo box will notice only a slight aesthetic makeover. It's roughly the same size as previous editions: 16.5-inches wide, 9.7 inches long, and 2.4 inches high to weigh in at approximately seven pounds. That's large enough to be noticeably heavier than a Cox cable box while measuring about twice the size. It feels appropriately sturdy, but it still tucks into a pretty modest entertainment center without much hassle. The front loses the Premiere's end-to-end horizontal stripe that contained indicators. Instead, the Roamio has a cosine graph-like design with its indicators tucked within the peaks. There are also two touch buttons—one for power and one for your remote, which we'll explain in a bit.

Spinning the box around, you'll find ports aplenty. The TiVo Roamio supports both HDMI and classic AV components, and each works fine. In addition to the other three necessary connections listed above, there are two USB 2.0 ports and optional connections for digital audio and external storage. The TiVo Roamio also has a fan, though during testing we never experienced any noticeable (read: spaceship-sounding, like early '90s computers) noise.